John Nichols gives us a muted but autumnal view of northern New Mexico which is both sentimental and humorous. He starts off by explaining how he treasures the loneliness of the fall season and how it separates itself from summer, much to his delight. He laments the loss of the wild nature of the area as developers build copycat housing units and strip malls. "Pizzafication of landscape."

And I have no fear of winter.

Nichols can be very candid here in regards to sex and the death of animals, but he certainly has a way with words ("sunshine oozes like syrup over warm boulders"), making his descriptions of people and nature come alive. When he says he prays for coyotes, he truly means it as he admires their craftiness and ability to adapt to the encroaching humans.

To get from here to there I tiptoe.

He really takes off when illustrating a tremendously hilarious day of trout fishing where everything goes wrong; or explaining how he came to live with several cats; or even, in just one sentence, describing the death throes of a kangaroo rat bitten by a plague flea. This is a cappuccino read, meant for a coffeehouse stay on an October day when the clouds "travel like white handkerchiefs".

Book Season = Autumn (barista weather) ( )